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ICAPSM 2021 IOP Publishing
Journal of Physics: Conference Series 2070 (2021) 012105 doi:10.1088/1742-6596/2070/1/012105

Design of solar powered electric vehicle

Arulious Jora A1, Earlina D2, Harish D 3, Sakthi Priya P 4, Inba Rexy A5, Nancy
Mary J S6
1
Masters in Engineering in Electrical Engineering and Embedded Systems
Hochschule Ravensburg-Weingarten, Germany
2
Masters in general engineering, Institut catholique d’Arts et Métiers -Icam site de Lille, France
3
Electrical services maintenance, Reliance India Ltd, Chennai
4
Programmer Analyst, CTS, Chennai
5,6
Department of EEE, Loyola ICAM College of Engineering and Technology, Chennai, India

[email protected], [email protected], [email protected],

[email protected], [email protected], [email protected]

Abstract. With the increased trends of industrialization and global economic growth leading to the
everchanging petrol prices and other price hikes, private transport system has become a costly affair.
All these problems can be addressed with innovation. One of the most feasible solutions is turning
towards renewable energies to solve the issues i.e., increasing the use of renewable energies like
solar power in the place of fossil fuels. Everyone’s dream of owning a commercially viable solar
vehicle is slowly becoming a reality. Electric vehicles are now available at an affordable price. This
opportunity is taken towards the design of a Solar powered two-wheeler. Designing a solar vehicle
is a multidisciplinary subject that covers the broad and complex aspects from various subjects. In the
designed vehicle, solar panel is used as the power source and developed voltage, stored in the battery,
is used to the drive the permanent magnet DC motor which drives the rear wheel of the vehicle.

Index Terms— PMDC motor, lead acid battery, solar panel, throttle, speed controller, charge
controller, LED.

1. Introduction

The quests for an everlasting, safer, cleaner and an environmental-friendly fuel is never-ending. The carbon-
based fuels, like the fossil fuels that are widely used nowadays are unsustainable and unsafe. They pose a
serious threat to the environment. The best alternatives to these are renewable energy sources like the sun,
wind, tides, hydropower and biomass. Amongst these elements, solar power is the most preferred since it
could provide the cleanest sustainable energy for the longest duration of time – at least for the following few
billion years. Photovoltaic production doubles every two years globally; it has increased by a mean of 48
percent annually ever since 2002. Thanks to its innumerable benefits with regards to the environmental,
economic and social aspects, PV systems have become the world’s fastest-growing energy technology. It
can be said that the sole limitation to alternative energy as an energy source is our understanding of

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ICAPSM 2021 IOP Publishing
Journal of Physics: Conference Series 2070 (2021) 012105 doi:10.1088/1742-6596/2070/1/012105

developing efficient and cost-effective technology which must be used for the implementation. Nothing on
this planet comes free of cost, but what we could find the simplest way to implement free rides. Indeed it'd be
wonderful if our two-wheelers could still run without us having to spend billions on fossil fuels each
year and to pander to natural hazards that their combustion leave behind. If we could drive a solar-powered
vehicle, that dream would come true. A solar vehicle would harness energy from the sun via solar panels.
A solar panel is nothing but a packaged, and

connected assembly of solar cells also called the photovoltaic cells which are the solid-state devices that use
quantum mechanical transitions to convert the available solar power directly into the needed electric
power. they're noise-free and pollution-free with no rotating parts and requiring minimum maintenance.
The electricity thus generated is used to run the vehicle’s motor by storing it in the battery. Thus, we get a
vehicle driven electrically which travels on “free” energy with no harmful emissions, which could utilize its
full power at all speeds and would have extremely little maintenance costs [1] – [2].

The planet Earth has awfully limited amount of energy resources which would soon become extinct.
Fortunately, population models have suggested that the world's population will level out at two to three
times the current numbers over the subsequent hundred years. The demands of the population increase as
the total population count increases. The lingering question is whether the earth's resources will be sufficient
to sustain the earth’s population with a high standard of living for all. Energy is the key issue in this. Now-
a-days, people dealing with natural resources like fuel, coal etc. face a tough time to stay at pace with the
increasing demand. At one hand, there are more cars and motor vehicles, dominating the transport medium,
while on the opposite hand these vehicles are being dominated by the fuel. As a result, the limited resources
are being quashed by the producers and dealers to satisfy this need which is leading us to an uncertain future
with the scarcity of fuel and minerals. So, it's clear that present trends in energy consumption, especially
oil, can't be sustained for much longer. Also, these are the most contributing factors for global warming,
environmental imbalances, depletion of the ozone layer, etc., which eventually challenges the survival of
humans. The fossil fuels also play the antagonist role with regards to global warming. Therefore, under this
circumstance, it's quite necessary to create a brand-new exploration of natural resources of energy and
power. The question now is the need for exploration when the resources are right in front of our eyes. They
are effective, less costly and specially, they are an endless source of energy. With greatly improved energy
efficiency, a transition to the present energy based economy capable of sustaining the anticipated
growth within the world economy is feasible. This effective source is ―Solar Energy.
This work focuses on designing a solar powered two-wheeler vehicle aiming to tackle the issues that are
related to pollution and shortage of fuel. When a solar powered vehicle is considered, it removes the burden
of vehicle maintenance of the shoulders while ensuring both the safety and comfort for drivers as well as
passengers Delhi, the capital city of India is one of the most heavily polluted cities in India. Recent study
shows that pollution caused by the road dust and vehicles account for about 50% of total pollution of the
city. Numerous solutions were proposed to face this which mainly includes afforestation and restriction on
the usage of the vehicles [3] – [7].

2. Existing System

In the existing systems, solar photon energy is used as the fuel. This solar photon energy is transformed
into electrical energy by employing a solar panel. This solar energy is used to power the electric vehicle.
In a case that was studied, a regular IC engine scooter has been modified. This scooter’s engine has been
replaced by with a 48 V, 0. 33 Hp DC hub motor. This hub motor powered by a 48 V, 7.5 Ah Lead acid
battery bank. Potentiometric method has been used for the purpose of speed control. A single 75 W solar
panel is used to charge the battery. The following is observed in the existing system:

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ICAPSM 2021 IOP Publishing
Journal of Physics: Conference Series 2070 (2021) 012105 doi:10.1088/1742-6596/2070/1/012105

 The maximum speed attained at the end of the accelerating period is 45 kmph.
 The starting acceleration is 6.25 km/s2.
 Distance covered is 3 km.
 Total time of the run is 280 s.
 The average speed is 36.3 km.

3. Proposed System

The proposed system exhibits a better performance because of the following reasons:
 The use of two 22,000 mAh batteries which provide a longer lifetime.
 The hub motors are replaced by a permanent magnet DC motor. The use of PMDC motors has its
own significance. The absence of field windings in the PMDC motors eliminates the field circuit
copper losses. This in turn increases their efficiency.
The output of the proposed system of the solar powered vehicle are as follows:
 The maximum speed attained at the end of the accelerating period is 50 kmph.
 The starting acceleration is 10kmphps.
 Distance covered is above 5 km depending on the speed and acceleration.
 Total time of the run is above 600 s.
 Average speed is 45 km.

3.1 Solar Panel

Solar panels have been in use since the nineteenth century and since then till today people have been
employing them for a variety of applications at home, business, for transportation and even for agricultural
use. Solar panels are considered expensive even today, and their performance needs to be verified without
blindly trusting the ratings provided by their producers. When a solar powered car is taken into
consideration, the solar panels act as the ultimate energy supplier for the whole vehicle to function. Hence,
a complete verification of the performance of the solar panels that has be used for the solar vehicle must be
carried out. The sun emits its radiated energy in the form of light photons which is then converted into
electrical energy by the solar panels. Solar panels are made up of silicon-based semiconductor materials and
when the radiation comes in contact with the silicon atoms, the photons are absorbed separating the electrons
from the rest of the atoms. There generated electrons take care of creating the electric current and their
transportation. The generated electricity is then stored in the batteries that are to be used later.

3.2 Battery
The battery that is to be used is a 24V unsealed Lead acid battery. Lead–acid batteries were invented by the
French physicist Gaston Planté in 1859. These are the oldest type of the rechargeable batteries available.
Despite their extremely low energy-to-weight ratio and a low energy-to-volume ratio, their ability to supply
high surge currents means that the cells can maintain a relatively large power-to-weight ratio. All these
features of the batteries and their low cost, make them attractive for use in motor vehicles thus providing
the high current required by the motors.

3
ICAPSM 2021 IOP Publishing
Journal of Physics: Conference Series 2070 (2021) 012105 doi:10.1088/1742-6596/2070/1/012105

Fig 1. Battery Setup

As the used permanent magnet DC motor requires a 24 V and a capacity of 42 Ah, two 12 V 42 Ah Lead
acid batteries are connected in series thus providing supply to the motor. Due to the internal electrochemical
mechanism of lead-acid batteries, charging is carried out in 3 distinct stages rather than through a continuous
fixed voltage/current supply to the battery. Each of these stages varies with the amount of voltage/current
that needs to be supplied to the battery. The charge controller will detect voltage from the battery prior to
the charging process. After reading the output from the battery the charge controller will determine which
stage has to be employed to properly charge it.

3.3 PMDC Motor

A Permanent Magnet DC motor (PMDC motor) is built with a permanent magnet that creates the magnetic
field needed for the operation of the DC motor. The use of PMDC motors has its own significance. These
permanent magnet DC motors do not require the presence of field windings which in turn reduces their field
circuit copper losses. This increases their efficiency. To satisfy the requirements, we use a 24V 42000 mAh
permanent magnet DC motor, the speed of rotation of which is controlled by the throttle.

Fig 2. Block Diagram

3.4 Throttle
The running speed of electric powered vehicles are adjusted under different riding situations with the help
of a throttle. There are linear hall sensor integrated circuit and magnetic steel which are installed on the
fixed part and rotating part of the throttle respectively. When the throttle is rotated, the movement of the
magnetic steel will affect the magnetic field. The output voltage of the hall sensor will change accordingly.

4
ICAPSM 2021 IOP Publishing
Journal of Physics: Conference Series 2070 (2021) 012105 doi:10.1088/1742-6596/2070/1/012105

The sensor transmits its output voltage signal to the controller, and then the software in the controller will
analyze this signal to get the suitable PWM to drive the motor.

Table 1. Components used

SNO. COMPONENT SPECIFICATION
1 Solar Panel 20W
2 Battery 12 V
3 PMDC motor 2300rpm,3Nm
4 Throttle Switch 12V,24V,36V,48V
5 LED 15W
6 LED back light 5W
7 Charger 60W

4. Vehicle Setup

The solar panel is connected to the battery through a charge controller which will regulate the supply to
the battery. The battery is then connected to the throttle.

The throttle is used to provide supply to the permanent magnet Dc motor through speed regulator which
consists of MOSFET to provide gate pulse to throttle. The rotor of the PMDC motor is connected using
the pulley system to the wheel. A smaller pulley is connected to the rotor which is connected to the longer
pulley attached to the wheel axis

4.1 Speed Controller

A speed controller is needed to control the power supplied to the motor. Most of the motors available these
days have hall sensors that enable them run smoother. They also require a complex controller to dish out
the power. The function of the speed controller is to make sure that everything runs smoothly. The throttle,
the motor, the battery and other such components are connected to the controller. The voltage of the
controller must match with the battery specifications. Also, with the increased amps of the controller, its
size also increases making its components beefy thus making them expensive. Using a high-quality
controller enables the quieter, smoother and the most efficient operation of the electric motor. The speed

Fig 3. Speed Controller

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ICAPSM 2021 IOP Publishing
Journal of Physics: Conference Series 2070 (2021) 012105 doi:10.1088/1742-6596/2070/1/012105

controller circuit is designed with four MOSFETs which provide the gate pulse required to rotate the motor
with an increase of the throttle.

4.2 Charge Controller

The main objective of the charge controller is to act as a battery management system (BMS) regulating the
charging and discharging of the battery. The charge controller circuit contains a voltage regulator circuit
which provides a regulated output voltage corresponding to the input from the solar cell. The regulated
output is conditioned such that the output voltage suffices to charge the battery available.

Fig 4. Charge Controller

5. Design Consideration

5.1 Calculation of Angular Velocity Of Wheel

Angular Velocity = Linear velocity / Radius of wheel

Angular Speed = 2 2 * π * frequency

Frequency = Angular speed / (2 x π) rpm

5.2 Calculation of Peak Torque Required for Moving the Vehicle

Peak Torque = (Mass of the vehicle + Mass of

the battery) * Acceleration due
to gravity * Wheel Radius *
slope%
Power Required = Torque * Angular Velocity
5.3 Calculation for Air Resistance

Air Resistance = (5/100000) * (mass of vehicle) *

(average speed)3

5.4 Calculation for Rolling Resistance

Rolling Resistance = 0.092 * (mass of vehicle) *

(average speed)

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ICAPSM 2021 IOP Publishing
Journal of Physics: Conference Series 2070 (2021) 012105 doi:10.1088/1742-6596/2070/1/012105

5.5 Calculation for Continuous Power

Continuous Power = Air Resistance + Rolling
Resistance

5.6 Calculation for Continuous Speed

Continuous Speed = (Average speed * 60) / (2 * π *

radius of wheel)
5.7 Calculation for Continuous Torque Required

Continuous Torque = (Continuous power * 60) /

(2 * π * continuous speed)
5.8 Battery
5.8.1 Energy Stored in Battery

Energy Stored = Capacity * Voltage

5.8.2 Discharging Time of Battery

Discharge time of = Energy stored in battery /
battery (without power of load
power loss)

5.8.3 Charging Time of Battery

Charging Time of = Energy stored in battery / power

battery (without of panel
power loss)

6. Concluding Results

Angular velocity = 59.52 rad psm

Frequency = 568.37 rpm
Peak torque = 22.64 Nm
Power required = 1347.41 W
Air resistance = 108 W
Rolling resistance = 220.8 W
Continuous power = 328.8 W
Continuous speed = 378.94 rpm
Continuous torque = 8.29 Nm
Energy stored = 1008 Wh
Discharge time of = 90 minutes
battery
Charging time of battery = 37.84 hrs

7
ICAPSM 2021 IOP Publishing
Journal of Physics: Conference Series 2070 (2021) 012105 doi:10.1088/1742-6596/2070/1/012105

7. Conclusion

The presented results as well as the design for a solar powered vehicle makes the usage of these vehicles
feasible and practicable in developing countries. The solar powered electric vehicle using a PMDC motor
is a good choice for the Indian market. The solar powered electric vehicle stands with higher safety, high
performance as well as remains cost efficient. Use of charge controller and speed controller in the vehicle
improves the efficacy of power system. The presented eco-friendly solar powered electric vehicle can be a
good choice for future generations.

8. References

[1]. G.R. Chandra Mouli, P. Bauer and M. Zeman, “System design for a solar powered electric vehicle
charging station for workplaces” Applied Energy, Vol 168, pp 434-443, 2016.
[2]. A. Inba Rexy and R. Seyezhai, “A comparative study of active power factor correction ac-dc converters
for electric vehicle applications” ARPN Journal of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Vol. 8, No.
9, Sep 2013.
[3]. Gurkaynak Y, Khaligh A. Control and power management of a grid connected residential photovoltaic
system with plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) load. In: 2009 Twenty-fourth annual IEEE
appl power electron conf expo, IEEE; 2009. p. 2086–91.
[4]. G. Maggeto and J. Van Mierlo, “Electric and electric hybrid vehicle technology: a survey,” in Proc.
IEE Seminar on Electric, Hybrid and Fuel Cell Vehicles, 2000, 1/1-11.
[5]. Ke Bao, Shuhui Li and Huiying Zheng, " Battery Charge and Discharge Control for Energy
Management in EV and Utility Integration" ,2012 IEEE
[6]. Victor del Razo, Hans-Arno Jacobsen, "Vehicle-Originating Signals for Real-Time Charging Control
of Electric Vehicle Fleets", IEEE Transactions On Transportation Electrification, Vol. 1, No. 2,
August 2015.
[7]. A. T. Radu, M. Eremia, L. Toma, “Promoting Battery Energy Storage Systems to Support Electric
Vehicle Charging Strategies in Smart Grids”, Electric Vehicles International Conference (EV),
Oct. 2017.